WE are responsible for children....
who put chocolate fingers everywhere.
who like to be tickled.
who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants.
who sneak popsicles before dinner.
who erase holes in their math workbooks.
who can never find their shoes.
But WE are also responsible for those
who stare at photographers from behind broken windows.
who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers.
who never "counted potatoes."
who were born in places where we wouldn't be caught dead.
who live in an x-rated world.
WE are responsible for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions.
who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish.
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.
who cover themselves with bandaids and sing off-key.
who slurp their soup.
But WE are also responsible for those
who never get dessert.
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them.
who watch their parents watch them suffer.
who can't find any bread to steal.
who don't have rooms to clean up.
whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser.
whose monsters are real.
WE are responsible for children
who spend all their allowance before Tuesday.
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food.
who like ghost stories.
who shove dirty clothing under the bed and never rinse out the tub.
who get visits from the tooth fairy.
who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool.
who squirm in church and scream on the phone.
whose tears sometimes make us laugh and whose smiles can make us cry.
And WE are responsible for those
whose nightmares come in the daytime.
who will eat anything.
who have never seen a dentist.
who aren't spoiled by anybody.
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep.
who live and move but have no being.
WE are responsible for children
who want to be carried and for those who must.
for those we will never give up on and
for those who don't get a second chance.
and those we smother and
for those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it.
by Ina Hughes
I found this in my mother's teaching file that it has taken me 10 years to have enough courage to clean out. I was so moved by it that I just had to share. Whether we like it or not,the truth is living in the U. S. we are rich! With wealth comes responsibility. It doesn't matter if it is with children,adults, elderly, homeless, disabled, sick, hopeless--WE are responsible to care for them. Don't wait for someone else to it. WE can change the world.
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